FATIMA TOURISM GUIDE

The world-famous pilgrimage site

Fatima has been one of the biggest Catholic shrines in the world since 1937,
when it is believed the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children as
they were tending their family's sheep.

They had the same vision on the 13th of every month from May to October of that year,
when a crowd of 70,000 gathered on the site and witnessed an inexplicable
spectacle that became known as the "Miracle of the Sun". The sun spun like
a ball in the sky, a phenomenon that led millions to believe in the
children's story that at first had been greeted with much skepticism.

The government had accused the Church of fabricating the story to revive its
flagging influence, while the Church was afraid to acknowledge the event,
fearing it was a hoax. The children, then about 10 years old, were arrested
and interrogated, but refused to change their story.

They stated the Virgin revealed three secrets (the so-called "three secrets
of Fatima"), which are said to have foretold World War II and Russian
communism. The third secret was only told to the pope, and was finally
revealed in May of 2000 by Pope John Paul II, who stated in Fatima that it
foretold the attempt on his life in 1981. Francisco and Jacinta, who died
of a flu epidemic soon after the apparitions, were beatified by John Paul II on that day,
while the third child, Lucia, lived in a Carmelite convent in Coimbra until
her death in February of 2005.

There are visits to
Fatima throughout the year, but it is on May 13th and October 13th that
it receives the most pilgrims from all over the world, many of them making
their way to the basilica on their knees. The vast neoclassical basilica was built in 1953 in recognition of the
importance of the site to pilgrims, with a 65m (213 ft) tower and contains
the tombs of the three children. It is located in a square twice the size of
St. Peter's Square in Rome, capable of holding a million people.

In a corner of the square, on the site of the original visions, stands the
Chapel of the Apparitions, a simple modern structure with a figure of
the Virgin inside holding the bullet extracted from Pope John Paul II after
his assassination attempt in 1981.

A Wax Museum recounts the story of the apparitions in 28 scenes
made of wax figures.

There's a daily torchlit procession at dusk which gives the site a
constant atmosphere of spirituality, despite the large number of souvenir
shops around it.

CURIOUS FACT

Ironically, one of the most famous Christian towns in the world has a
popular Muslim name -- Fatima was the name of the daughter of Mohammed, the
prophet of Islam. The town of Fatima is named after a Muslim girl who
lived in Ourem, 10km (6 miles) northeast of Fatima, who fell in love with a
Christian knight and converted.